Collards from the garden...
... corn from the field...
... and chives from the backyard...
... make for a luscious autumn meal of savory greens.
... and beautiful corn cakes.
Or if you prefer something sweet, add the last fruits of summer...
... and a little sweet bee's honey.
Sweet or Savory Corn Cakes (adapted from NY Times recipe circa 1985)
3-4 ears of fresh corn or 2 cups frozen corn
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup corn meal
2 large eggs plus 1 additional yoke
Salt and Freshly ground black pepper (for seasoning after)
clarified butter or bacon drippings for frying
1 cup creme fraiche (for topping)
3 tablespoons finely chopped chives (optional)
nectarines (optional)
honey (optional)
Cut corn off cobs until you have 2 cups. Place in food processor with 2 tablespoons of heavy cream and pulse until almost smooth, but with a bit texture remaining.
Combine milk, flour, corn meal, eggs (beat together before adding), and then slowly add the melted butter a little at a time until completely incorporated.
Heat skillet and add butter or bacon drippings and fry corn cakes until golden.
For savory cakes, sprinkle chives on before flipping cakes and serve on a bed of collard greens (see recipe below) with creme fraiche, fresh chive garnish and pepper.
For sweet cakes, pan fry nectarine slices in butter and and serve on top of corn cake with creme fraiche and honey.
Garden Harvested Collard Greens:
I used this recipe to transform my enormous pile of collards into a wonderful savory treat. I only made a couple of quick adjustments (besides tripling recipe to accommodate said pile), mainly that I used a tiny bit of habanero pepper from the garden in place of the red pepper flakes, and simply smashed whole cloves of garlic and threw them in the pot. I also cooked it for about 1.5 hours in stead of 45 min and added 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Happy harvest cooking!
~Sarah
*Last time in Recipes: Snacks on the Trail
